CBI quizzes CM Gehlot’s OSD, MLA Poonia

nNEW DELHI/JAIPUR: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday questioned Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot’s officer on special duty (OSD) Deva Ram Saini and Congress MLA Krishna Poonia in its probe into the death of station house officer (SHO) Vishnudutt Vishoi, whose body was found hanging from the ceiling of his house on May 23, officials familiar with the development said.

A team of CBI’S special crime unit in Delhi was in Jaipur to record their statements. The team questioned Saini for nearly two hours, while Poonia was quizzed for about two-and-a-half hours at her residence, an official said on condition of anonymity.

This was the second time Poonia, an Olympian, was questioned in connection with the matter.

The agency quizzed her for nearly three hours at her Jaipur residence on Monday evening.

On May 23, Vishnoi, an SHO at the Rajgarh police station in Churu district, was found hanging from the ceiling of his official residence. Two suicide notes were recovered from Vishnoi’s mobile phone – one addressed to his parents and the other to then superintendent of police, Churu. One of the notes, still being verified, appeared to suggest that

Vishnoi indicated he was trapped in “dirty politics”.

Shorty after the incident, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and its ally Rashtriya Loktantrik Party alleged that Vishnoi was being pressured by Congress MLA Poonia, a charge she has denied. The two parties demanded a CBI probe.

The questioning comes at a time when Gehlot is locked in a political battle with Sachin Pilot, who has been ousted from the posts of the deputy chief minister and the state Congress president.

While the Rajasthan government recently withdrew its default consent to the CBI to probe cases in the state after its

July 19 notification, the state government itself handed over the probe into Vishnoi’s death on June 4.

On Tuesday, the CBI said Poonia and Saini were not being treated as suspects at this point. The official said that the questioning was being conducted to seek clarification on certain aspects of the case.

Saini, who is a Rajasthan police officer posted in the chief minister’s office, said: “I am extending full cooperation and provided all required information.”

Poonia said: “I have nothing to do with the suicide. I am cooperating with the CBI and will answer all their questions.”